Larry Magid: Windows Gets A Redo With Version 8.1

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — Microsoft showed off a new and improved version of its Windows operating system at its developers conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.

This has PC users wondering if they've been accustomed to using Windows 7 or even Vista if it's worth making the upgrade.

I personally like it better and I like the return of the start button. It seems like a simple thing actually on my version of Windows 8 I had installed a third party start button

I haven't tested yet, but I like the fact that you can boot directly to the desktop and skip the tiled, tablet-like interface. I think familiar PC users might like that function.

I like the search function. When you start typing, it immediately brings up a very attractive and colorful page. For example, at their event they typed up Marilyn Monroe and then all sorts of pictures of her come up and even her biography. Of course if you have any documents on her, they'd pop up too.

In general, I think it's going to be a step in the right direction, but I don't know if it's going to be enough, because they did get off to a bad start with Windows 8.

With the changing landscape, they now have to be able to work on different platforms including the PC, tablets as well as on smartphones.

The hybrid market is difficult to get it right because you're catering to multiple platforms. Take the Microsoft Surface tablet for instance. It's not really the best tablet nor is it the best PC and that's the problem with hybrid products; it's difficult to make both best in class.

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